Edmonton getting ready for Champ Cars

Seventeen of the fastest champ car drivers in the world will race into Edmonton this week to take part in the Edmonton Grand Prix.

Officials are expecting more than 60,000 fans (race day) to watch the international race – which features Canadians Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani at speeds of more than 300 km/h – being held at the City Centre Airport.

City hotel rooms are almost all booked and tickets for the three-day event are almost sold out. And organizers have tried to make sure that fans will have an excellent view of everything that's happening.

"We want to make sure that they don't just see the cars go by and they see three seconds of cars," president and general manager Greg Macdonald said. "They've come here to see motorsport, they've come here to see a lot of competition.

"We're not a follow-the-leader race like most street races. We can have four or five cars abreast, going down the straight-away. In the start-finish line, they're going to be exceeding 200 miles an hour, four abreast, that creates a lot of entertainment to a spectator." More at CBC Calgary